Why Can't I Hate You?
by Maki-sama
Summary: Sequel to "I wish I could hate you." Anzu finally gets an answer from Ryou and its not long before another man catches her eye. One problem: He has a girlfriend, but people are not always as they seem. Anzu/Kaiba, Serenity/Ryou, Ryou/?


Hey, Everyone! Welcome to my new story. I hope you enjoy the first chapter! This is mostly AU and won't update regularly so please keep that in mind.

Reminders:  
_There are thoughts in italics.  
_  
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh.

* * *

I sighed and stopped at my locker as the bell began to ring. Normally, I wasn't late for school, but my parents weren't able to give me a ride this morning. As I entered my locker combination, I saw Ryou walk quickly into the classroom. A suppressed hurt surfaced in my heart, and I found myself sighing again before masking my pain and slamming my locker shut. Giving my teacher my late pass, I sat down, unfortunately, next to Ryou.

It's not awkward around him anymore, but it has almost been a year since I told him that he was my crush, and I still haven't heard a word from him. _I should just ask if he even remembers, _I thought and started to doodle in my notebook. It wasn't long before the bell rang and class was dismissed. My day continued in the same fashion until the last class got out. The determination I had had first period was almost diminished as I explained my idea to Serenity.  
"Go for it," she said. "At least then you'll know how he feels about you!"

"I don't know, Serenity," I bit my lip. "Maybe he doesn't even remember at all. I don't want to get hurt anymore, you know?"  
Serenity got a thoughtful look on her face. "Ok, so if he comes by here, just talk to him about it, deal?"  
I sighed, "Deal."

We started to walk down the hallway when an all too familiar voice called our names.  
"Anzu, Serenity, wait up!" Ryou smiled and ran to catch up with us.  
_Damn you,_ I thought, making sure a glare didn't surface.

"Hey, Ryou," I hesitantly greeted him. _Why is this so hard?_ We started to walk outside the building, and Serenity ran to catch up with Joey, leaving Ryou and I alone. It was awkward, and I knew it was my fault, too. As we passed the park, I stopped. Confused, Ryou looked at me; I just smiled back at him.  
"Ryou," I began, "Can I ask you a question?" He looked even more confused.  
"Yeah, what's up?"  
"Do you," I stopped and took a deep breath, "Do you remember last November?"  
He sighed and gave me a sorrowful look, "I see you as a friend, nothing more."  
I couldn't help but be even more nervous after this statement. _Nothing more than a friend? When was he planning on telling me this? It's been nearly a year since I told him and now…it's not like I didn't expect it, I suppose.  
_"I know I should have told you sooner," he was still talking, "but I'm just awkward like that, you know?" He laughed nervously.  
"Well, thanks for," I swallowed, "Telling me. I h-have a big paper to write, though, so I'll just…head home. See you Monday."

I walked quickly away and didn't slow my pace until I was a block from my house. I stopped for a second and sniffled. _Why didn't he just tell me sooner? That would have made everything much easier!  
_  
I pulled myself together and continued to my house. The minute I walked in, I ran to my room and locked the door. It wasn't long until I was on the phone with Serenity.  
"I talked to him," I started.  
"Really? Well, what happened? Tell me what's up!?" Serenity nearly shouted into the phone.  
"He only sees me as a friend," I couldn't stop the tear that rolled down my cheek, "So, I guess it's over. I mean, at least I know, right?"  
"Yes, I think knowing how he feels is really going to help you get over him. It'll be ok. Do you want to get together tomorrow and do girl stuff?"  
I smiled and half laughed, half sobbed, "That sounds great, Serenity."  
"Ok then, I'll be at your house around 11:30 so we can grab some lunch."  
"Yes, thank goodness we don't have school tomorrow."  
"Yep, see you tomorrow! Remember if you need me, call." Serenity stopped to scream at her brother, "Joey, put that down right now! Anyway, I'll see you later, Anzu. JOEY!" The phone clicked and I slowly hung mine up. It was going to be a long night.

I woke up to my alarm and hit the snooze as many times as I could before I showered and readied myself for my day out with Serenity. She was half an hour later, but we still managed to find a table at the local burger stop. "Why were you so late," I asked when we sat down with our lunch.  
"Ugh," she said, "Joey wouldn't get out of the shower and I couldn't go without one. I would just feel so dirty!"  
I giggled at her antics and thanked the waitress for bringing our food. After she left our table, I noticed a couple walk into the restaurant. The man was tall and graceful as he led his gorgeous date to a table. _He walks just like Ryou does_ I thought. Serenity was talking.  
"Huh? What did you say?" I asked, looking away from the man.  
Serenity just turned in the direction I was looking and raised her eyebrow. "What were you looking at over there?"  
I blushed, "No one."  
She grinned, "I didn't say 'who,' I said what."  
"Oh, right, well," I sighed. "That guy over there walks just like Ryou does." She nodded and told me to continue. "That's all I was really thinking, I mean, he is cute, but he also has a girlfriend so," I trailed off.  
"He is cute."  
The topic ended there and we continued eating while we discussed what to do.  
"We should go see that new movie," Serenity suggested, "The one with the girl and her vampire boyfriend!"  


"Oh, sounds exciting!"  
"Yeah, and then we can go walk around the park!"  
"And feed the ducks, right?" I smiled. Feeding ducks in a pond really was a relaxing activity; we had done just that on my last birthday.  
"Of course, we'll go to the grocery store before we go to the park and buy bread."  
We both stood and carried our trays to the trash bin near the front of the restaurant. Serenity was a few feet ahead of me, so I was surprised when I ran into someone.  
"I'm sorry," I said as I looked to see who it was. Deep blue eyes stared back at me from a tall man with sharp, but relaxed features. I nearly blushed when I realized it was the guy I had watched walk in earlier.  
"Its fine," he said and walked off. Oh, his voice was mesmerizing. It was deep, but not deep and filled your heart with--.  
"Anzu, are you coming?" Serenity called, and I blushed and quickly put my tray away.  
"Yeah, let's head out."


End file.
